Dr. Justin Frank Puts Obama on the Couch About Syria; Allan Sheahan Explains the Basic Income Guarantee; Durst on Labor Day

Washington, DC psychiatrist Dr. Justin Frank, author of Obama On the Couch with insights on Obama's urge to whack Syria; author and activist Allan Sheahan talks about his new book, Basic Income Guarantee: Your Right to Economic Security; satirist Will Durst waxes about Labor Day.Click here for GoDaddy deal that benefits the PBC podcast!

Dr. Frank is the outspoken shrink who also wrote Bush on the Couch, and he responded on short notice to PBC's questions about Obama's arrogant insistence on attacking Syria. Despite the lack of support from allies, Congress and the public, well-placed skepticism of the assertions--without proof--that the Syrian military used sarin gas on August 21, it appears that Obama is willing to proceed. We ask Dr. Frank "why?" and he offers some interesting theories. He suggests that Obama is still desperately seeking approval from Republicans, and from his deceased mother. While Obama's arrogance is very different from the idiot swagger of George W. Bush, Dr. Frank offers that Obama thinks it's his place to "scold" those who cross his offhand "red-line" about chemical weapons, even though death by bullets or drones or missile is equally objectionable. We talk about US hypocrisy on these issues and the distraction value of a Labor Day adventure in Syria from the Summer of Leaks, and much more.

At 23:30 we are joined by Allan Sheahan, author of Basic Income Guarantee. He has been an activist on this concept since the 1980's, and his new book is a series of questions and answers that make a wonky subject more accessible. We first talk about the fast food workers who went on strike in many cities this week, and how his $10,000 annual guaranteed income would help low-paid workers and replace welfare, food stamps and other subsidies. He estimates the cost would be about $1.9 trillion annually, and proposes to pay for it with the savings from welfare, food stamps and hefty defense cuts. PBC suggests that corporate taxes should also be included.

While your humble host is not promoting this idea, it's worth considering the concepts to see if they could inform the latest round of "tax reform" being talked about in Washington. You can learn more at his website.

And, at about 54 minutes in, Will Durst checks in with his take on Labor Day. You might know that Durst was host of the PBS series "We Do the Work".